No. 11/13 Buckeyes Tie Penn State, 5-5

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 11/13-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team overcame a two-goal deficit and took a one-goal lead twice, all in the third period, against Penn State Friday in Value City Arena. However, the Nittany Lions tied the game with .7 left in regulation to force overtime and neither team could find the back of the next again, ending in a 5-5 tie and securing one point in the Big Ten standings for each squad. Penn State won the ensuing shootout to claim the extra league point.

The Buckeyes, now 8-3-4 on the year and 3-3-1-0 in Big Ten play, and Nittany Lions (8-7-2, 3-4-2-1 B1G) will close the weekend series at 4 p.m. Saturday. Each team extended its unbeaten streak to five (3-0-2) with the tie.

Ohio State 5, Penn State 5 – The Short Story Penn State led 6:20 into the game but a Christian Lampasso goal sent the teams into the first intermission tied at one. The Nittany Lions controlled play in the second, scoring the only two goals, for a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Ohio State scored twice in less than a minute early in the third, with Dakota Joshua and Tanner Laczynski tallying, to tie the game at three.

Brendon Kearney scored a third straight Buckeye goal for a 4-3 advantage at 8:53 but Penn State tied the game at 12:25. Ohio State again went ahead when Freddy Gerard tallied at 15:35. With time expiring, a Penn State shot went through with just .7 left in regulation to tie the game for the fourth time and send it to overtime. Neither team scored in the extra session, with the Buckeye penalty kill stopping its fifth PK of the night in OT. Both teams secured a Big Ten point with the tie. A shootout was held for the extra point in the league standings, with Penn State winning, 1-0 in three rounds, as the first goal in the shootout stood.

Laczynski led the Buckeyes with three points on a goal and two assists, extending his point streak to six and giving him 20 points in the last 11 games. Lampasso, Kearney and Gerard each had a goal and an assist and Austin Pooley had the first two helpers of his Buckeye career. Sean Romeo made 31 saves in the Buckeye goal, including eight on the penalty kill.

In the First Penn State opened the scoring at 6:20 of the first period when Kris Myllari’s shot from the point found its way to the net. At 18:47 Buckeye senior Christian Lampasso roofed a shot past the Penn State goalie to tie the game at one, with assists from Austin Pooley and Brendon Kearney.

Ohio State outshot Penn State, 13-7, in the period and each team had one power play chance. A second Buckeye penalty carried over into the second.

In the Second Penn State notched the only two goals of the second period. Alex Limoges took advantage of a turnover down low at 4:58 and Kevin Kerr tallied at 14:14. The teams combined for 29 shots in the period, with the Nittany Lions ahead, 16-13. Penn State was 0-for-2 with the man advantage in the second and Ohio State was 0-for-1.

In the Third Ohio State outscored Penn State, 4-2, and outshot the Nittany Lions, 20-10, in the third.

At 3:38 Tanner Laczynski found Dakota Joshua in the high slot for a one-timer to make it a one-goal game, with Freddy Gerard also assisting. The Buckeyes tied the game 55 seconds later. Laczynski weaved through the PSU zone to the left faceoff circle and scored on a wristshot at 4:33 with the Buckeyes on the power play. Mason Jobst and Matt Miller picked up the assists. Brendon Kearney notched the Buckeyes’ third straight goal for a 4-3 lead. Christian Lampasso passed out from the back wall to Kearney in front of the net and he converted. Austin Pooley also assisted on the tally, which came at 8:53.

Penn State tied the game at four when Trevor Hamilton scored at 12:25. The Buckeyes again pushed ahead, taking a 5-4 lead at 15:35. On the ensuing faceoff after Penn State iced the puck and took its timeout, the Buckeyes’ Matthew Weis won the draw in the right circle. Laczynski picked up the puck and found Freddy Gerard driving to the far post with the goalie still on the near side. The final goal came with .7 left in regulation. After a battle along the boards, Penn State was able to get the puck up high and Andrew Sturtz’s shot got through.

Each team had one power play in the third, with OSU 1-for-1 and PSU 0-for-1.

In Overtime and the Shootout The Buckeyes put two shots on goal in overtime, along with hitting the crossbar, and Penn State had three shots on net. Ohio State stopped a power play chance at 1:29, limiting the Nittany Lions to two shots with the man advantage.

Penn State shot first in the shootout and Andrew Sturtz converted the first attempt. Neither team scored the rest of the way, giving the Nittany Lions the extra point.

Blocking the Puck Ohio State outshot Penn State, 48-36. It was the Buckeyes’ fifth game with 40 or more shots this season and the fourth game with 20 or more shots in the third period.

Sean Romeo played all 65 minutes for the Buckeyes and had 31 saves, his third straight game with 30-plus saves. On the year, he has a 1.92 goals-against average to rank in the Top 10 nationally. Penn State’s Chris Funkey played 64:42 and had 43 stops.

Special Teams The Buckeyes were 1-for-3 on the power play in the game and are now 10-for-61 (.164) this season.

The penalty kill was 5-for-5 in the win, its third 5-for-5 night this season.

Noting the Buckeyes • The Buckeye power play was 1-for-3 vs. Penn State. The team is 4-for-10 (.400) in the last three games and is 7-for-22 (.318) in the last six games combined, with at least one power play goal in five of the six outings. • Ohio State leads the NCAA on the penalty kill, stopping 52-of-56 (.929) opponent chances, including the last 17 straight. • Laczynski leads Ohio State with 14 assists and 20 points, with all 20 points coming in his last 11 games. It was his second straight three-point night and fourth of the season. He is third in the Big Ten with 1.33 points per game and fourth in total points. • Ohio State tied its season high with five goals, its second-straight five-goal night and the fourth of the year. The team is now averaging 2.87 goals per game. • Austin Pooley had his first multiple-point game for the Scarlet and Gray. • The five goals scored by Penn State were the most allowed by the Buckeyes this season. The squad is now allowing 2.13 goals per night. • Mason Jobst’s assist was the 99th point of his Buckeye career. Matthew Weis’ helper moved him to 98 points as a Buckeye. • Christian Lampasso had his second straight two-point game and has three goals in his last two games combined. • Freddy Gerard notched his fourth two-point game of the year and his second in the last three games. • Brendon Kearney had his first multi-point outing this season and picked up his first goal of the year. • Ohio State has scored and allowed 7 and 12 goals in the first and second periods, respectively, but has outscored opponents 24-13 in the third this season.

Quoting the Buckeyes Steve Rohlik, Ohio State head coach On what sparked comeback in third period “We dug ourselves a hole, battled back and put ourselves in a good position toward the end. Our guys understood we weren’t playing very well. We gave up a couple really bad turnovers. The only way to battle back is to give the effort, and I think our guys decided to go out there in the third and empty their tanks. Keep putting pucks at the net, and good things will happen. Give our guys credit; we did bounce back.”

On the last second goal from Penn State “We had total control of the puck and we tried to play the clock instead of trying to play the game at the end there. They made a nice play out of the corner and got the puck to the net. That’s what hockey is. We should have just continued to play the game instead of playing the clock at the end.”

Tanner Laczynski, Ohio State sophomore forwardOn the mood in the locker room after the second period, being down 3-1 “Obviously, whenever you’re down you have to keep your morale up and I thought we did a good job of that between periods. As you saw, we had a lot of momentum in the third period and even when they scored to get another goal back. Tonight, I think our biggest thing was just beating ourselves so we need to correct that and come back tomorrow and be better.”

On being a part of two goals in the third period to tie the game “I think just keeping it simple. My linemates were able to get open for me and it’s pretty easy when they’re working to get to the hard areas. Like I said, everyone has to be better, including me, including my line.”

On how the mentality changes in overtime “We knew we just gave up a pretty big goal there. At the end of the day we knew we needed to win in overtime and knew we had that momentum. We wanted to win in overtime but sometimes the puck just doesn’t bounce your way, and that happened tonight. We have to regroup and come back tomorrow.”

Brendon Kearney, Ohio State junior forwardOn scoring his first goal this season “Relief. It’s just one of those things but playing with those two guys, they did all the work. They threw it out front and it was just right place, right time.”

On what worked for his line that enabled two goals for the team “I think just doing things simple, not trying to force any plays, being smart with the puck and good things seem to happen.”